


Our Last Stand

by Chaosprincess



Category: Fear the Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Killer!Nick, M/M, Season/Series 03 Spoilers, Spoilers for Minotaur
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-23
Updated: 2017-09-23
Packaged: 2019-01-04 12:26:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,864
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12168858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chaosprincess/pseuds/Chaosprincess
Summary: "You love this as much as I do!"What if Troy had been right about Nick? What if bloodlust had won over Nick's good intentions?





	Our Last Stand

**Author's Note:**

> Nick is a bit out of character here! It's intentional. In this AU, Nick is more similar to Troy in regards to bloodlust and recklessness. Dialogue was kept as close to canon as possible. It's mostly Nick's attitude that has changed.

**”Troy, what are you doing?”** Nick asked, hovering over the militant Otto.

 **“We’re gonna be a beacon in the darkness,”** Troy replied, ironically flicking off the lamp. **”And do what my father should have done.”**

A chill went down Nick’s spine, even as he protested, **”Jeremiah made sure we survived.”**

Troy was grabbing more guns, out of hidden boxes from previously concealed shelves. How many were there? Nick would never know. Maybe Walker would never have known, even if he had swept the whole house.

**”No, he wanted more than that, he wanted to build something.”**

**”That’s what we’re doing right now. That’s why he allowed this.”**

**”So that we can all live in perfect harmony,”** Troy scoffed. **”But that’s not how it works Nick. We regress into our own. That’s human nature.”**

And there it is, the spark in Troy’s eyes, the scientist within him. 

**”He tried to break from that in the end,”** Nick insisted.

**”Why are you in on this, Nick. Huh? We lead and others will follow.”**

Nick touched his forehead with his fingers, disbelieving his own ears. Troy couldn’t possibly believe that right?

**”Noone’s gonna follow, Troy. The people out there, they just want to live!”**

Troy moved like a viper, quick and precise. He crouches to the ground and pries up a floorboard, revealing a massive and sleek sniper rifle. Nick steps back, bringing his hands to his lips, almost as if he were praying. He wished he could say that it was fear coursing through his veins, but it wasn’t… he was awed… almost impressed. And somewhere in the darkest corner of his mind, he could admit that he was just slightly aroused. 

**”We head upstairs, and snipe from up there.”**

**”This ends bad man,”** Nick said quietly, eyes fixed on Troy’s shiny new toy.

 **”Oh this is how it was always gonna end, Nick. Wh-What did you think you were gonna die in your sleep with a- a wet-dream smile on your face. Come on, you love this too!”** Troy said, his voice stuttering and breaking in his excitement. He was manic, and maybe desperate. That would certainly explain the hungry glint in his eyes, despite the whimsical tone of his next words, **”Pick up your rifle!”**

Still, Nick hesitated. It was too easy to be drawn in by that smile, that wit, those movements. Troy knew perfectly well what he was doing, and Nick _liked_ it, but he wasn’t ready for their story to come to an end. Not like this.

 **”This doesn’t have to be our fate,”** he said faintly, weakly, slowly caving in to desires better left unstirred.

 **”Hey, I am gonna die…. The way my father did. That’s- That’s apt,”** Troy replied, chuckling humorlessly as his eyes trailed to the floor. 

Nick took a breath and came in close, maybe fatally so.

**”Listen Troy, my father, right? He died for nothing. Don’t do that to Jeremiah. This is not what he wanted-”**

**”Wh-why do you care? Why do you care what Jeremiah wants? Why do you care what happens to me?”** Troy snapped, drawing closer. 

Nick’s heart raced and his tongue wrestled the unspoken response into submission. He could admit a lot of things. He could lay himself bare before Troy Otto, but he could not say the words that he knew would be the end of them. 

_You love it as much as I do,_ Troy’s words echoed in his head in a seductive whisper. He wasn’t wrong, if the fire in Nick’s brain and the hurricane in his stomach were anything to go by…

**"Now take your rifle.”**

The metal thudded heavily against his chest. He gripped it tight, though he knew he should be putting it down. There was the soft rumble of a rock being kicked near the window. Adrenaline soared through Nick’s veins.

 **”Here we go,”** Troy whispered, approaching the window. 

Nick trailed behind him, unable to break their invisible tether. He found himself almost disappointed to see that it was only his mom at the window. 

**”It’s me! It’s me!”** Madison said. 

Troy lowered his rifle, just barely, and Nick leaned against the wall across from him to get a better view.

**”This isn’t the way Troy. Ranch is looking to you right now.”**

Nick’s heart sank slightly, though he supposed he should be grateful. Maybe if he couldn’t get through to Troy, his mom could.

 **”I hope they are!”** Troy said, raising his voice. **”I hope they follow!”**

 **”They turned over their weapons, no one’s following,”** Madison said flatly.

Nick could have laughed, still amazed that Troy thought that would happen. 

**”See, you can still get out of this,”** Nick said, able to stifle the laugh but unable to hide the smirk.

 **”You’re assuming that I want to,”** Troy replied with a smile that broke Nick’s heart and healed it all at once. There was no time to decide which effect was more severe. The cloud of tension soon burst into a hail of gunfire. Bullets rained upon the otto house, and Nick ducked beneath the window as Troy fired back. In the pause between shots (Nick assumed Walker’s people were reloading), he felt Troy’s arm wrap around his own tightly, pulling him closer to the stairs, where Nick ducked behind a stone column and Troy positioned himself on the floor, firing at the door where three of Walker’s people had gathered. 

Nick could pinpoint the exact moment that his gears shifted. From his position, pressed with his back flat against the stones, he saw a bullet whiz by and graze Troy’s shoulder, cutting his uniform raggedly, and as bloodless as the wound was, it drew his ire. Nick raised his rifle, leaned out from behind the stone column and unloaded on the front door, savoring the kickback of the rifle’s fire as it pounded against his chest.

 **”Wooo! Give ‘em hell, Nicky!”** Troy yelled, joining in. 

If there had been any doubts about where Nick’s loyalties lie, they had been settled now. He was with Troy, right to the end. 

A low cackle escaped Nick’s throat. He couldn’t remember exactly when he started smiling. The blood rushed in his ears. His head felt light and giddy, maybe at the absurdity of it all, maybe at the elation of finally being honest with himself, about killing, about Troy Otto… Either way, all he could hear was the rattle of bullets against glass and the walls, and the music of Troy’s triumphant cries. He hardly noticed when his own whooping and yelling joined the mix. And he definitely didn’t notice when the shadow of Crazy Dog began to hover over him.

The blood that spilled on Nick’s shoulder was not his own. As he twisted to get a look, Troy’s breath flooded his ear with heat. Troy’s left hand had shielded Nick’s neck from a swift death blow. Nick shoved Crazy Dog away from Troy roughly and pushed Troy towards the stairs. Before rounding the corner, Nick raised his rifle and shot, feeling a sickly sweet satisfaction as the bullet landed squarely between Crazy Dog’s eyes. 

They rushed upstairs, both firing a spray of bullets as cover before they shut the door and barricaded themselves in. Their mad laughter finally overtook the symphony of bullets.

 **”Holy shit, Nicky!”** Troy cried, wrapping his uninjured hand around Nick’s neck and drawing him close. **”I knew you had it in you!”**

Nick’s chest burned as he stumbled forward into Troy’s arms and smashed their lips together. He could feel how startled Troy was, how he shook and stepped back, but leaned forward, messily kissing back. It was chaotic, and wild, and bloody, and just so… Troy. More like fighting than kissing, and as darkness swam in Nick’s eyes, he was fairly certain that Troy was purposely trying to suffocate him. What a wonderful way to die… 

But they parted at last, panting heavily as the bullets tore through the door. They laughed, raising their nearly forgotten rifles and firing back.

**"LET IT RAIN ASSHOLES!"**

**”Troy, your hand…”** Nick said, glancing at the blood dripping on the floor.

 **”It’s okay. I can make a fist. If I can make a fist, I can fire a gun,”** Troy said, diving beneath the bed and retrieving another rifle. **And if I can fire a gun, then I can kill.”**

The way that Troy admired the sleek metal made Nick envenious. 

**”Oh so beautiful,”** Troy purred.

 **”Yeah...it is,”** Nick murmured.

There were shouts in the hallway. Nick and Troy took cover beside the bed. The battle raged on for several minutes. They took turns reloading.

 **”Thank you, Nick!”** Troy whispered, twisting to look at him between rounds.

 **”What?”** Nick asked, baffled.

**”You’re the last person I thought would ever have my back. I don’t mind dying. Really I don’t.It’s good to have company. Are you ready, Nick?”**

Nick’s smile twisted, contorted in pain. This wasn’t right. He had to tell Troy the truth, even if it ruined their last stand. Nick swallowed thickly, throat full of dust and gunpowder. 

**”Troy,”** Nick said lowly.

 **”Don’t get weak-kneed on me now, Nicky,”** Troy said softly, giving Nick a look of open fondness. He must have noted the drop in Nick’s voice, his sinking expression.

**”Your father-”**

**”I don’t care!”** Troy hissed, before softening again. **”Let’s focus on this, Nicky. On us. This is our moment! Not his!”**

 **”You need to know!”** Nick snapped, frustrated.

**”It won’t change anything.”**

**”And what if it does?”**

**”Well then, I don’t want it to!”** Troy shouted, voice cracking.

He looked at Nick with wide pleading eyes.

 _He knows,_ Nick realized. Maybe he always knew. 

**”Don’t ruin this, Nicky,”** Troy begged.

Nick shook his head.

**”I can’t let you die based on a lie…. Your father was a drunk-”**

**”Nick-”**

**”He lost his mind to drink-”**

**”Don’t make me shoot you, Nick.”**

**”But he didn’t kill himself-”**

**”NICK, SHUT UP!”**

**”I killed him.”**

Troy froze, his rifle turned ever so slowly, pointing to Nick instead of the door, pointing to Nick’s chest, his heart, that suffering, aching, bleeding heart. He met Nick’s eyes, those big sad eyes, and he knew Nick was telling the truth. He’d always known, but now it had been said. Now it couldn't be ignored. He was fighting alongside his father's killer. He was fighting beside the one who had gotten him into this mess.

_Then Madison…_

The door was cracking.

He was still fixated on Nick. 

Did it even matter?

Nick’s chest rose and fell heavily, as if just being alive was a struggle. 

_He’s waiting to die,_ Troy realized. _He’s always waiting to die._

 **”It doesn’t matter,”** Troy said firmly. 

Nick’s confusion was oddly amusing given their dire situation.

 **”You’re sure?”** Nick asked.

Troy grinned with heartbreaking exhaustion. 

**”I love you, Nicky… ”** Troy breathed, training his rifle back on the door.

Nick slowly sat up and positioned his rifle as well.

**”I love you too, Troy.”**

He could see the youngest Otto’s eyes flood with tears, even as he smiled. He watched as Troy wiped them on his sleeve.

They both knew they weren’t going to make it.

And that was okay.


End file.
